Monday, December 28, 2015

ll,Christmas was fantastic. I was able to call my family, and have a Brazilian Christmas. What is a Brazilian Christmas like. Its like this, For Americans, the big day of Christmas is the 25th, Christmas day. Wake up, presents, and everything's a frantic excitement on the 25th. but here, its the 24th, and just the evening. they party all night, have Tons of Churrasco (Meat barbecue thing that's really good) and we eat a ton. it was at a members house, and the food and desserts were fantastic. Then the next day was really weird. Everything was silent. Not a sound was heard anywhere. Its like everyone was sleeping from partying all night. But we went to a members house, and had lunch there, which was pretty chill, and we ate a big lunch there again (left over Churrasco ´sh-u-ha-scu[) then the special day for missionaries, skyping our families. it was awesome. I freaking love my family, and calling them was especially fun, because I was also able to see Michaela through the laptop while they were skyping her. The rest of the week was pretty normal.

Monday, December 21, 2015

We had a miricle happen the other day. We were walking in
this little town, with only on a dirty muddy road, It was raining that day too.
So, we clapped at this house, and then the next, and the next without success,
and this went on for while. So we decided to stop. Ferreira picked up rocks,
and asked which one he chose. I picked this one, and that, but I didnt choose
the one he chose. Then he said, îts easier if you ask me^then said that we need
to make a prayer to find him that god has chosen here, and who is ready. So, we
did, I said the prayer. After the prayer, he asked which was we should go,
left, to the other town next door, or right to return to Serrano where our
investogators, and teach one of them. So, I had the feeling that we should go
right, and return to our investigators. But on our way, we passed this one
house, and Elder Ferreira stopped and was like ^Go make contact with that
family^since he saw these people sitting on the porch of this house, and he
felt impressed to have me go make contact with them. So, we decided to go, and
I clapped hands, and it was an amazing experience. There were nine of them,
this big family, and they were so very exited to see us, they talked, I talked
a lot, and it was pretty awesome. It was like they were waiting for us to stop
by because they were like, ^sure, come in, teach us a quick short message^!! A
miricle definately happened here. and the grandpa of the family stopped us and
was like, how am I going to know you church is true when there are so many
others out there saying different things. and we were like, Îm so glad you
asked that, and expressed that, can we come back another day and talk to you
guys more (since it was getting late, almost 9Ç00, and we needed to return),
and of course they said we good, we set a date to come back, then left to go
home. But that was awesome.

What I learned from this is that you will only know whose
ready to accept the gospel of you ask God, because only he knows where they
truly are. I~ve learned that we are virtually incapable of doing anything
without God. He~s given us our bodies, our spirits, our families, our time on
earth, and most importantly, a way for us to return back to him through
Christ~s amazing sacrifice. Remember Christ this christmas. Its not about
santa, or Recieving toys and candy. Its about Christ, who was born to live a
perfect life, suffer and die for us so that we may recieve the chance to live
with our families forever and with the one who created us and loves us more
than we will ever comprehend in this life, God, who is our Spiritual father.

Monday, December 14, 2015

Hey y'all, its been pretty much the same deal this week as
last week. Only this week, we taught a very choice and cute family.

So, the day before we taught this family, we had the
idea to make a cake, and buy a present for Bernardo. A kid who is turning 8
today. and so we did that, and asked a member to make the cake for us, because
we didn't have time.

Anyway, we brought the cake and the present in with
our little letters in it. and we sang, and he opened his present, and read the
letter. and when he was reading the letter we wrote, a tear went down his face,
and was so grateful, and I just felt so so good. The family is poor, and they
cant afford cake or toys for their kids for special occasions. So they were so
touched, and I was so grateful to God that I was able to be a part of that. and
we ate the cake, and talked a little. Then we had our lesson. The lesson was so
special. So so special. we gave a lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and
talked about temples. But the coolest and most tender part of the lesson to me
was this.. and I need a little back story. Elder Ferreira and Almeda (Elder
Alva~s companion) taught them when we attacked that area^, and committed
Bernardo to baptism, and asked the mom and him to pray to God to ask if the
church is true, and if their message is true. and so today, Ferreira asked if
they did that. And they did, and she testified to us that it was true, and told
us that she's going to follow the example of Jesus Christ, and be baptized. and
She got really emotional about it too, and the same thing with Bernardo. They
both received an answer to their prayers. and after the lesson, we asked the
mom to give the prayer, and while she was praying, she started to cry, saying
how she was grateful that we remembered her son's birthday, and for her response,
and I felt the spirit so strong then. that was the miracle of the day. God
loves his children. I know that this is an elect family.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

my second week was pretty busy as well. and whats a good
week without a lot to do. But, all this begginning of the week, weve had so
many meetings nad stuff. Like, for almost every morning, somethings been
happenning. Busy busy busy. Either a zone meeting, or a district meeting, or
other things. We teach all day, and have meetings all day, and walk around all
day. Its pretty dang sweet!!

So Im sure your all wondering whats its like on my mission,
In Caxias! and Serrano! well. where I prosylite, there are only cobble stone
roads, and theyre really really bumpy. We walk everywhere , and there are tons
of hills. THis place is a lot like Oregon per say. Its super green, trees are
everywhere, and it rains a lot (not like Oregon though, this is preiodic rain)
and like no evergreens Ç(. Which is really sad.

So the people are the nicest people ever. They give us so
much food, and love to talk, and are humble and kind. They are all awesome
people. There are many families I have become friends with. The only problem is
that their names are too difficult to remember, and i dont know their last
names, and that im not fluent in portuguese. but other than that, its the bomb.com.

And the language! the language is coming a long, and
imroving much much faster than it did in the CTM. Im learning a lot of words
and learning how to speak better. I think in a few more weeks, ill be able to
do a lot more things, simply because i can speak better. But, one of my
favorite things here is Chemarrao. Its a drink of grass pretty much that you drink
out of a rounded wooked cup through this fancy metal straw. and pretty much
everyone here has them. Rare is the day that I go without Chemarrao

and last but not least, we had our first babtism this past
week. A sweet old lady. and after that, we had a little program, then it turned
into the ward christmas party, with really good food!! It was fantastic!!!

Love you all, and make sure you thank God every day for the
things you have!

Our Missionary: Elder Dallin Shurts

Dallin is a fun, outgoing, confident and thoughtful young man. He is everyone's friend and goes out of his way to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable. Dallin loves sports. His favorite sports are discus and basketball. He is the 4th of eight children and is a joy to have around. We sure love this guy and are so proud of him for serving a mission.